Fabric Problem?

[Kathy Kessler]

I\'ve quilted hundreds of quilts, but have never had this problem before. The customer used 100% cotton fabric in her quilt top. The fabric was dark red with a black print, but the back of the fabric was very light - almost white. As I quilted, the light color on the back of the fabric appears on the top. I first thought that it might be the batting poking through, but that wasn\'t the case. I was using Superior So Fine thread, a new 1955-01-MR4.0 needle from APQS and Hobbs 80/20 batting. I thought that it might be a defective needle, so I put another new needle in and it didn\'t solve the problem. I removed the thread from my machine and quilted on the fabric without using any thread and I still got the white dots. The customer got this fabric from a quilt fabric store and paid $9/yard, so it\'s not like it was cheap fabric. Has anyone else had this happen, and if so, how were you able to resolve the problem?

Thank you!

[Katydids]

I think it is the way they print or ink (however it is done) the coloring onto the white fabric base. Rather than using a red cotton , the colors are screened onto the white fabric. It is either flaking off or as the needle penetrates the fabric it is causing the white base to turn out and show.

Not an expert here, just trying to think logically about the manufacturing process of the fabric.

[PattyJo]

Hi Kathy - Would it be possible for your customer to take any of the fabric that she has left back to the quilt store? It won\'t help her quilt now, but the LQS could contact the manufacturer to find out what\'s going on with it. Also, maybe pull the bolt so that others won\'t have this same problem. Just a thought.

[ffq-lar]

I have this problem with Thimbleberries fabric. As the larger needle enters the fabric it pulls slightly on just one adjacent thread and it will nudge the one thread out of the weave path. That white you see going out from the needle hole is the tiny bit of un-dyed thread that was once tucked under the weave. As it is offset, the white will show up as tiny dots extending from the needle hole. This is from a heavy surface dye and I don\'t know what you can do about it.

On my own tops, I get out the Pigma pen and touch up those funny spots. On customer quilts, that would be up to them. I don\'t think a smaller needle will help. A recent customer had these "trails" extending from her seams from piecing. She was using Kaffe Fassett fabrics so I think it depends upon the dying method and not the price of the fabric whether you may have problems. Sorry!